1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally concerns the playback of audio and/or video content selections (hereinafter ‘content’) from a playlist. More specifically, the present invention concerns user influence on the probability of a specific item from a content playlist being selected during the execution of a pseudo-random (shuffle) algorithm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many consumer electronics devices such as digital audio players, mobile devices with content playback capability, and even laptop or desktop computing devices with a content player or application support the implementation of a playlist. In the most general form, a playlist is a list of content that can be played in a sequential or shuffled order. In the latter case, content is played back in a pseudo-random order.
While there are numerous instances of pseudo-random selection algorithms, such algorithms generally fall into one or two distinct categories. The first such category includes those algorithms where subsequent selections of content made by the execution of the algorithm are independent of content previously selected through execution of the algorithm. The second such category includes those algorithms where previous content selections are excluded from further playback until the entire playlist has been processed. In the first category, a given piece of content may be randomly selected multiple times while another piece of content may not be selected for playback at all. In the second category, every item of content on the playlist is played back before any one item is played again.
In many instances, a playlist inevitably includes content that is no longer desired by a user of the consumer electronics device. Such a lack of desire to hear further playback of the content may be permanent such that the user never desires to hear the particular selection or any selection by a particular group ever again. Such a lack of desire may also be temporary. For example, a user may simply not be in the mood to hear a particular selection at any given time. In many instances, a user may be more interested in hearing one type of content selection to the detriment of another.
Removing a particular selection from a playlist can often be time consuming in that it requires ‘synching’ a mobile device to a host computer that manages playlist generation and modification and, further, that hosts all content owned by a user and that may be included on a playlist. Further, if the lack of interest in a particular content selection is temporary, removing a selection from a playlist can be even more laborious if it need be reintroduced at a later time.
There is a need in the art for a user to weight or rank playlist items whereby content may be randomly played back but more or less so than other items in the playlist.